A landmark's employees mark down the memories
By Donovan Slack, Globe Staff | August 24, 2007
Mayor Thomas M. Menino arrived early and circulated among the crowd. He shook hands and made small talk. With a mantra tinged with sadness, he made a point of talking about his clothes. "My suit? Filene's Basement. My tie? Filene's Basement. My shirt? Filene's Basement."
In the middle of what was once a Boston landmark -- and one of Menino's favorite stores -- the mayor hosted a breakfast yesterday to say goodbye to what for many is hallowed shopping ground, home of the automatic markdown.
It was the last supper -- or breakfast, as it were -- for the 200-odd employees of the original Filene's Basement. The store is scheduled to close within two weeks to make way for a $625 million hotel, condominium, and retail complex.
Silver clothing racks had been bundled in plastic and pushed to the side. A half-dozen tables had taken their place. On each was a white tablecloth with a spray of fresh sunflowers. There were coffee cake, scones, honey-corn muffins, and plenty of tears.
"It's a bittersweet day," Menino told the crowd. "We're going to miss it. Nobody will ever take the place of the Basement."
One by one, employees followed his lead, stepping up to the microphone to share feelings of loss.
"I love all you guys," one said.
"I just want to thank everybody," said another. "I will miss you very much."
Sylvia Amenta, a Filenes Basement employee for more than 60 years, received a standing ovation. She began as a cashier in 1946, worked her way up to manager, and now does shipping and customer service.
"I'm going to miss it," she said, her voice quavering, then trailing off as she broke down in tears.
Many of the employees clutched mementos from happier days, when the store's future had seemed assured. One keepsake, a World War II-era brochure, touted the Basement's "remarkable blend of utility and oddity" and compared the "merchandising Mecca" to a combination of "a county carnival, a church strawberry social, and a giant treasure hunt."
Edward A. Filene founded Filene's Basement in 1908 as a way to sell excess merchandise from his father's department store upstairs. The Basement now operates as a separate company.
"I'm heartbroken," said sportswear associate and 19-year Filene's employee Van Nguyen, who wore a floral-print blouse. "I had left my parents in Vietnam and came here alone in 1975. I stayed here learning English. I'm never going to forget you." Nguyen invited everyone to write in a scrapbook. "I've written my own story in here," she said. "If anyone wants copies or anything, let me know."
Steven Barton, a 20-year employee wearing a lime-green polo shirt and khakis, told the group how he found his soulmate in the Basement. "She was the customer service manager, and I was a loss-prevention investigator," said Barton, who now supervises antishoplifting efforts at the store.
"Sorry," he said, choking up and taking a few deep breaths before continuing. Barton met Mary at the Downtown Crossing store in 1992, and married her in 1994. "It just went on from there," he said.
They now own the European Flower Co. in Weymouth. He continues to work at the Basement.
After the speeches, the employees embraced and took pictures of each other. Some lingered over a black-and-white photo display, showing customers lined up outside the store in the 1930s, '40s and '50s. A newspaper clipping from 1937 advertised "impressive new coats or suits: $7.90."
A representative from the Basement's corporate headquarters weaved through the tables, handing out commemorative magnets. Company officials have said they will reopen a Basement store in the same location in two to three years, but many of the employees gathered yesterday said they didn't plan to return.
At 9:30 a.m., the public address system crackled to life: The store is now open. One by one, the employees left the breakfast. Some, not scheduled to work yesterday, paused to take a pensive look backward as they rode the escalator up out of the Basement.
Donovan Slack can be reached at
dslack@globe.com.
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